Keywords

Introduction

Many Western countries have developed bridging programmes requalifying skilled immigrants from various professions. In Norway, the increase in the number of refugees in 2015 due to the Syrian war accentuated the need for programmes to give skilled migrants an opportunity to obtain adequate qualifications to re-enter the teaching, nursing, or engineering profession. The intentions of these programmes must be seen as multidimensional: First, the shortage of trained teachers and nurses in Norway is widely debated, and these programmes can facilitate the use of immigrants’ prior learning and skills to address this shortage. Second, these programmes aim to increase participation in the labour market because employment is essential to the successful integration of immigrants and is a prerequisite for leading an independent life in the destination country. Third, these programmes aim to increase immigrants’ opportunities for job–skill match and thus maintain their professional identity in a new country context. For highly skilled immigrants, this can be decisive for the perceived success of migration (Remennick, 2013). It is important to clarify that Norway has, through agreements (ICN, 2019), undertaken not to recruit health personnel from countries that lack such personnel.

The backdrop of bridging programmes is that deskilling, and underemployment are common experiences among highly skilled immigrants in new country contexts (Brell et al., 2020; Elo et al., 2020; Zwysen, 2019). Many foreign-trained immigrants remain in low-status, low-paid jobs after migration due to difficulties in human capital transference and to language and cultural barriers. Successful occupational integration, on the other hand, is less explored. Regaining professional status after migration is conditional on the complexities of economic and institutional arrangements, but individual factors also play a key role (Remennick, 2013). In this chapter, we aim to place emphasis on how non-European educated immigrants experience professional identity and successful professional integration in a new cultural context. More precisely, we use the theoretical concepts of resilience and professional identity to investigate how these factors can be a resource for foreign-trained nurses, teachers, and engineers enrolled in bridging programmes. A common denominator among these professionals is that their former education and training have not been recognized by authorities and employers. The bridging programmes are a promising avenue to regain a job position that corresponds to their subjective identification as a nurse, teacher, or engineer, but the programmes are also the most formal non-recognition of prior education (Terhart, 2022). In this study, we explore professional identity as a resource and a protective resilience factor. Many professionals drop out of their studies, but we look at what characterizes those who succeed. Through the narratives, we gain insight into the choices, motivations, and sacrifices of highly skilled migrants on the course to occupational reintegration and into the role of bridging programmes in this endeavour.

The chapter has the following structure: First, we outline occupational regulations and the features of bridging programmes in Norway. Next, our theoretical lens is described, and prior research on bridging programmes for internationally educated teachers, nurses, and engineers is introduced. Thereafter, the data and methods are presented. Subsequently, we present and discuss findings from interviews and, finally, a conclusion.

Occupational Regulations and Bridging Programmes in Norway

Immigrants who would like to engage in a regulated occupation in Norway need to apply for a licence from the sectorial authorities. The authorities’ evaluation of prior learning and experience can lead to full recognition, partial recognition, or no recognition. For those immigrants educated outside the EU, partial recognition of prior learning and experience is common because educational systems and content are so different (EU Directive, 2013). Partial recognition implies that the immigrant requires additional education and training to become licensed. A bridging programme is often the best option for non-European immigrant professionals who seek to reconnect with their pre-migration occupation. These bridging programmes usually come last in a chain of requirements which include residence permits, language skills, and assessment of former education. Hence, this route can be time-consuming, costly, and unpredictable, but once one is admitted, these programmes constitute a ‘fast track’ to occupational reintegration as they both formalize skills and contribute to occupational socialization.

Bridging programmes are quite new in the Norwegian education system. Upon request by the Ministry of Education and Research, in 2017, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) established 60 ECTSFootnote 1 bridging programmes for teachers, engineers, and nurses educated outside the EU/EEA. The objective of each programme was to qualify refugees and migrant workers through further education to work in the Norwegian labour market. Foreign-trained teachers and nurses need accreditation before they can obtain employment in the educational or health sector in Norway, whereas engineers have no statutory requirements to take supplementary education but may lack knowledge of Norwegian law and regulations, which can hamper employment opportunities.

Admission Criteria and Course Content

The bridging programmes give priority to refugees, and other qualified applicants compete for the remaining places. All programmes require a residence permit for acceptance. Nurses need to document a nursing education in their country of origin and a decision from the Directorate of Health; teachers need to document a teacher education in their country of origin and to obtain approval from NOKUT (the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education); and the engineering course is primarily for engineers with a documented professional background in construction, machinery, or electronics. The language requirements are Norwegian at the B1 (engineers and teachers) or B2 (nursing) level based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2019).

Figure 10.1 describes the course content and training requirements. The bridging programme for teachers diverges from the other two in length. The teaching programme was revised and re-established with significant changes after academic staff at the university observed that the programme was too challenging for students. The main challenge concerned only 20% of students passing the B2 language test. This is perceived as the minimum level required for employment in schools. Further, the students appeared to have insufficient pedagogical content knowledge for the subjects from their initial teacher education, and some students had been studying/teaching only one subject. Because of this, the teacher bridging programme was prolonged from 60 ECTS to 120 ECTS, and changed the language requirement to B1.

Fig. 10.1
A diagram of course content. Engineering has 2 terms with subjects like Norwegian working life, and volunteer subject. Nursing has 2 terms with subjects like pharmaceuticals, and skills test. Teaching has 5 terms with subjects such as child behavior, and language.

The course content and training requirements

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Theoretical Lens

We engage two theoretical concepts to investigate experiences of successful professional integration, namely resilience and professional identity.

The concept of resilience derives from the Latin verb “resilire”, which means “to leap or spring back”. There are different conceptualizations of resilience across research areas and whether it is defined as, for example, an individual trait, a process, an outcome, a dynamic developmental process, or all these (Niitsu et al., 2017). In this chapter, we use an ecological framework of resilience inspired by Ungar (2011).Footnote 2 Ungar emphasizes the interaction between a person and the wider society as being composed of interactions between system levels. The following is Ungar’s definition:

In the context of exposure to significant adversity, resilience is both the capacity of individuals to navigate their way to the psychological, social, cultural, and physical resources that sustain their well-being, and their capacity individually and collectively to negotiate for these resources to be provided and experienced in culturally meaningful ways (Ungar, 2008: 225).

The resources or protecting factors described by Ungar are individual, relational, or collective, and the contextual protecting factors are dependent on family influences that are both environmentally and genetically mediated (Ungar, 2011, 2015). The important element is that resilience requires the capacity both to navigate and to negotiate. To navigate requires personal agency, motivation, and the ability to locate resources, such as social networks or bridging programmes. To negotiate requires that actors, individually or in collectives, give meaning to these resources (Ungar, 2011). In our context, this can imply assigning meaning or value to the ability to contribute to individuals or to society, for example through professional work.

According to Day (2018: 68), professionals need to have and sustain a positive sense of professional identity to succeed over time. The development of professional identity takes place both during education and continuously throughout professional life, and it requires an actively reflective attitude (Giddens, 1991). The awareness of one’s own competence as well as participation in and development of roles and positions in the community of practice also contribute to shaping this identity (Wenger & Nake, 2004). Successful maintenance of a positive professional identity, however, depends on the identity being linked to efficiency, action, emotions, and resilience (Day, 2018). Day (2018) further claims that resilience can be seen as a capacity rather than a fixed characteristic and that it can vary according to will, commitment, and the ability to succeed based on the strength of one’s inner commitment to work tasks and partly on interaction at the workplace. A professional’s capacity for resilience can thus be associated with both their inner strength of purpose and relationships in the workplace (Day, 2018: 67).

This perspective of resilience and identity as an interactive person–environmental process is used here to explore success factors in the individual, structural, and political experiences of migrant teachers, nurses, and engineers.

Prior Research on Bridging Programmes

In this literature review, we give a brief overview of research related to bridging programmes for teachers, nurses, and engineers. Research on bridging programmes for internationally educated teachers (IETs), nurses (IENs), and engineers (IEEs) has been undertaken in Canada (all professions), Germany, Norway, and Sweden (teachers and nurses), and the UK and Australia (nurses), among others. In the case of IEEs, the research appears more limited except for some studies conducted in Canada.

The IETs enrolled in bridging programmes are diverse. In European countries like Sweden and Germany, students in most cases have a refugee background (Malm, 2020; Niesta Kayser et al., 2021; Terhart, 2022). Canada’s bridging programmes, on the other hand, seem to include teachers with more diverse country backgrounds and immigration reasons, but East and South Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe are mentioned (Marom, 2017, 2018, 2019). IENs from the UK, India, and the Philippines are top of the list of those entering Australia, while numerous nurses from Poland and Turkey immigrate to Germany, and Indian and Filipino nurses mostly migrate to the UK (Smith et al., 2022). Canadian research shows that most engineers are from the Philippines, Ukraine, India, China, Pakistan (Friesen, 2015), and France (Bedard & Massana, 2018).

Students’ General Perceived Challenges and Barriers

In the case of IETs, research shows that while children’s behaviour and subject matter content are to some extent similar regardless of country, the shift to a more student-centred mode of instruction is brought up by many and described as a difference that makes them reflect on their role as a schoolteacher (Economou & Hajer, 2019; Hajer & Economou, 2017; Terhart, 2022). Further, some studies report that IETs feel that their previous experience and education were devaluated (Marom, 2017, 2019; Terhart, 2022) and that they also face challenges related to social, financial, and cultural matters. In relation to labour market opportunities, discrimination and racism are widely discussed as challenges (Block, 2012; Niesta Kayser et al., 2021; Othman, 2022).

Nurses who migrate experience challenges in countries of destination as well as with cultural exclusion, loneliness, privation, and language barriers (Dahl et al., 2017; Nortvedt et al., 2020). Moreover, experiences of lack of professional development and, as with teachers, under-rated competence and skills are reported. For IENs, a study in Sweden revealed challenges connected to being a student again and being in a different student role with higher demands related to self-regulated learning (Högstedt et al., 2021).

A study with 18 foreign-born engineers from South America, Africa, Central Europe, and Asia revealed challenges involving tension, anxiety, and uncertainty after receiving the engineering licence as well as worry of whether they were sufficiently prepared to live up to the responsibilities (Friesen, 2016). Even after obtaining a Canadian licence, an IEE may find that employers are sceptical of hiring them and that managers expect applied engineering theory, practical engineering experience, management of engineering projects, communication skills, and an understanding of business practices (Girard & Bauder, 2007). Similar findings were reported in a study with French engineers in Quebec (Bedard & Massana, 2018), in which the IEEs underestimated differences in academic training, the context of professional practice, and work regulations. Moreover, Mutual Recognition Arrangements do not provide measures to facilitate social integration into Canadian society for the partners and children of these engineers, which may change original plans to migrate to Quebec.

Language: A Main Challenge

Research shows that internationally trained professionals find the acquisition of sufficient language skills demanding (Terhart, 2022; Hajer & Economou, 2017; Dahl et al., 2021; Magnusdottir, 2005; Nortvedt et al., 2020; Friesen, 2015; Lum et al., 2016). Among IEEs attending a qualification recognition programme in Canada, with participants originating from more than 30 countries (with the majority from the Philippines, Ukraine, India, China, and Pakistan), some of the main challenges in the programme were language and communication (Friesen, 2015). IETs in bridging programmes in Sweden reported that they found it challenging to read course literature in Swedish (Hajer & Economou, 2017). Researchers investigating IENs have reported similar experiences (Dahl et al., 2021; Magnusdottir, 2005; Nortvedt et al., 2020). Lum et al. (2016) explored IEN perceptions of English-language and nursing communication in a bridging programme in Canada with nurses originating from the Philippines, Nigeria, and several European countries. The results showed academic literacy challenges and learning therapeutic communication skills were unexpected challenges, partly because of conflicting ideas about what constitutes culturally appropriate interaction. For IEEs attending a qualification recognition programme in Canada with participants originating from more than 30 countries (with the majority from the Philippines, Ukraine, India, China, and Pakistan), main challenges were language and communication. Additionally, lost employment income and understanding how to do networking and to find mentorship opportunities in Canada were highlighted (Friesen, 2015).

Perceived Success Factors

In the research we have reviewed, less attention is given to success factors. However, one can argue that the willingness and ability to develop a bridging programme is one key to successful requalification for all professions (Wimmer et al., 2019). Chassels (2010) investigated how internationally educated migrants enrolled in initial teacher education valued courses explicitly designed for internationally educated student teachers. The programme was characterized by small groups and guided observation experiences. Supportive peers and opportunities to engage in discussions with students in the same situation and facing the same challenges were considered rewarding and beneficial. The importance of fellow students in the same situation is also discussed by Block (2012).

In line with Ungar (2015), Terhart (2022) developed a theoretical scheme wherein she identifies six aspects perceived as important to keeping the hope of re-connecting to the teaching profession: (1) emphasizing the universal similarities of working with children; (2) highlighting existing long-term experiences as a teacher; (3) referring to similarities in subject content in the different national school systems; (4) To have faith that you can improve your language skills; (5) taking on and shaping the role of a multilingual refugee teacher; and (6) supplementing existing professional pedagogical knowledge.

IENs who completed a bridging programme in Sweden particularly benefited from a structured programme with content adapted to their situation and needs, which meant that they gained sufficient knowledge and security to practice in the Swedish healthcare system and that previously acquired knowledge was reinforced (Högstedt et al., 2021). The value of strengthened cultural competence (Neiterman & Bourgeault, 2013), sufficient opportunities to learn what constitutes quality in nursing in a new country, perceived leadership competence, and communication skills have also been highlighted by IENs in a bridging programme (Aggar et al., 2020). Furthermore, research with IENs has shown that an important reward factor is support from fellow students, teachers, and instructors (Högstedt et al., 2021). Likewise, a bridging programme helped and challenged IEN integration into the nursing profession (with help of social support systems) and was a tool for the transition to working life in a new country (Hadziabdic et al., 2021). Additionally, experiences from nurses who received authorization after completing a bridging programme showed that motivation and determination as well as support from managers and networks are crucial for success (Högstedt et al., 2021).

A Rapid Evidence Assessment indicates that bridging programmes are highly valued by both IENs and healthcare employers, and the importance of cooperation across authorities is highlighted (Smith et al., 2022). Structured integration programmes improve the health, well-being, and belonging of nurses, which in turn contribute to better recruitment and retention. They can increase success rates and improve nurses’ experience and integration within an unknown healthcare framework (Smith et al., 2022).

A Canadian study with 360 IENs who completed a bridging programme showed that it helped them ‘fill in’ cultural, practical, and theoretical knowledge and that they developed professional language skills (Covell et al., 2018). However, IENs from low-income countries such as India and the Philippines reported significantly higher benefit scores for all scale items compared with IENs from relatively higher income countries such as France, the UK, and Romania (Covell et al., 2018).

A study with 18 foreign-born engineers from four continents considered their immigration mostly successful and related to feelings of inclusion and belonging enabled by attainments in professional registration, employment, and career development. Furthermore, a widened understanding of their role as professional engineers and progression in engineering practices were described (Friesen, 2016).

Although a restrictive temporary work permit was limiting for French IEEs in Quebec, they experienced benefits such as a labour market characterized by greater flexibility and mobility than in France, higher wages, less hierarchy in the workplace, and greater opportunities for career development (Bedard & Massana, 2018).

On the other hand, as noted by Terhart (2022), a phenomenon of bridging programmes is formal non-recognition of prior education, which can serve as a ‘bottleneck’ in re-entering the profession, particularly when there is no job guarantee after completing the programme. Thus, a bridging programme can be seen as a door opener but also as a gatekeeper.

Data and Methods

Participants

To explore bridging programme students’ narratives and how they experience professional identity and successful professional integration in a new cultural context, a purposive sample of participants (Table 10.1) affiliated with a university in Oslo was included. The participants were recruited through the university’s student administration staff and teachers in the bridging programmes. About 70 students were informed orally in class, and written information was distributed on their learning platform. Of these, 4 men and 18 women from eight countries volunteered for the study. The sample of 22 participants represented country backgrounds from Asia, Africa, and Europe and covered immigration reasons including family reunification, employment immigration, career aspirations, or humanitarian reasons. The three occupational areas were engineering, teaching, and nursing. We conducted one interview with each participant, and none of the participants dropped out during the study.

Table 10.1 Demographics
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Data Collection

Data was collected between 2021 and 2022 in Oslo. The four researchers in the project interviewed the informants individually in Norwegian or in English as preferred, and the interviews were digitally recorded and professionally transcribed. An interview guide was used, which built on themes from prior research on bridging programmes and internationally educated professionals. The interviews were between 30 and 100 minutes in duration. Most were conducted face to face, and some were performed via Zoom, in line with what was most convenient for the student.

Analysis

Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to identify topics. NVivo software was used in the analysis (NVivo, 2018). First, all authors read the dataset several times and noted preliminary ideas. Secondly, we coded participant statements and looked for patterns and recurrent themes. Themes about the experience of successful academic integration became clear. The preliminary themes were reviewed and assessed in comparison to the research question, overlapping codes or themes were assessed, and themes were given descriptive names. The review also highlighted the connection between the various themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The following themes emerged: motivation for entering a specific profession, professional identity, motivation for migration, information flow about supplementary education, and prerequisites for completing supplementary education. Finally, we selected informative quotes to support our findings.

Ethical Considerations

The study was registered with the Norwegian Social Science Data Service (NSD) (project no. x). Confidentiality was assured in all aspects of the research process, and only the four researchers and the transcriber had access to the recordings and transcripts. The participants were informed about the aim of the research, the researchers’ professional background, and what participation would entail and that they could withdraw consent at any time. It was emphasized that they should not feel any fear that the interview could have negative consequences for their study progression or credential recognition.

Findings and Discussion

A simple way of looking at our findings is as a U-shaped curve: It begins as a story about motivation, self-confidence, and developing a professional identity in the country of origin. It then becomes a story of adversities, where the participants lose professional affiliation and status as well as encounter difficulties in being professionally recognized in Norway. Finally, it becomes a story about motivation for recognition, authorization, and qualification within complementary education systems. The analysis generated the following seven themes: (1) motivation for entering a specific profession, (2) professional identity in the country of origin, (3) motivation for migration, (4) authority requirements, (5) professional identity – both strengthened and weakened in a new country, (6) information flow about the bridging programme, and (7) prerequisites for completing the bridging programme: (a) motivation for study and (b) personal requirements.

Motivation for Entering a Specific Profession

According to Resnick (2018), motivation is related to resilience in that it requires motivation to be robust. She claims that, like resilience, motivation is influenced by inheritances, intrinsic qualities, and environmental factors such as social setting and social support, the physical situation, and policies. Everyone has the ability to be resilient and/or motivated, and choices are made when one experiences predictable and challenging situations (Resnick, 2018). For the engineers in our study, the background for choosing the profession was merely professional interest, in addition to good opportunities for work in their country of origin. For one of the teachers and several of the nurses, the original goal was to become a doctor. However, some did not get into medical school, and for many informants the high costs of longer study were not consistent with available financial support from their family. Another common characteristic for the teachers and nurses was that family members were of great importance for the choice of and motivation for the profession. Several also mentioned that it was crucial that the choice of education give them opportunities to work abroad. One of the nurses said:

Initially, it was not my choice to be a nurse, it was just my dream to have a better life and better finances, that I can get a job abroad, for example in the USA or Europe… I had never heard about Norway before, but my goal was to go to the USA and work there, so instead of accounting studies, I chose nursing to have a better life and job in the USA and migrate. (N6)

The dream of a life with better finances abroad was an expressed aim for several, while a nurse with a background in the Catholic Church experienced being led by God in choosing the profession. Quite a few informants also said that they wanted to contribute to society through their profession and that they had a particular interest in the subject. One of the teachers illustrated this as follows:

Yes, I think that desire came to me very early… I’ve always been very fond of children… there was never any doubt that I wanted to do teacher training… In a way being in children’s lives, to change lives for the better. (T8)

Choosing training as a teacher because you love children and wish to contribute to improving children’s lives seems meaningful. Resnick (2018) also talks about meaningfulness as reinforcing resilience in addition to preserving hope, positive thinking, and being involved in society. One of our informants highlighted a teacher she herself had as a child who believed in and supported her and became an important role model, and she herself therefore chose to become a teacher. In this regard, Resnick (2018) mentions introductions to role models as motivating for a successful accomplishment of education.

One of the nurses emphasized opportunities for specialization, leadership positions, and research as motivation for choosing the profession, thus referring to goals and dreams for the future. In summary, the choice of entering a specific profession was motivated by determination, work opportunities, dreams of a better life, support from family, and the meaningfulness of contributing to society. This might be seen in relation to Ungar’s (2015) theory about how people’s ability to navigate encompasses their motivation to succeed, personal values, and personality traits. For the labour immigrants, lack of work in the country of origin could hinder their success even if they were motivated to study, but instead they saw possibilities abroad.

Professional Identity in the Country of Origin

A powerful identity is identified by Ungar (2015) as a protective factor. Regarding professional identity in our participants’ country of origin, all three professional groups stated that they had great professional responsibility there and that they (as members of a professional group) were respected in society but that this did not correspond to salary levels. A teacher from South Asia highlighted the status and respect associated with her profession in her country of origin, saying:

For example, when I get on the bus at the same time as my teacher, I would prefer that my teacher gets a seat. I will stand if my teacher stands. And I don’t want to sit next to my teacher, because there is a lot of respect [chuckles a little], so they are always mentors. And it is teachers who decide, so they have more power. (T6)

This informant shows she expected to be respected and listened to as a successful teacher. According to Ungar (2012: 38), respectability is a core facet of psychosocial resilience. Becoming a respectable person in society so that others (e.g. parents) can be proud can contribute to strengthening identity.

Several of the nurses said that the healthcare system in their country of origin was characterized by the family taking care of the patient around the clock when hospitalized. The nurses’ everyday work consisted largely of technical nursing procedures, where, however, they could not make professional decisions alone (as one can in Norway) but that the doctor gave orders. One of the nurses also pointed out that there are no nursing homes in the Philippines, that he was well drilled in various nursing procedures, and that he had little time to talk to individual patients due to low staffing. He went on to say:

Actually, I like working in the operating room the most. That’s the best part of it. Because it’s just a matter of routines. If you know the routines, that’s fine. And there’s a team there, you’re not alone… And drug management and all the nursing skills like wound care, except [basic] care, except if it’s really needed. (N5)

This quote emphasizes the nurse’s high level of competence in technical procedures. On the one hand, nurses pointed out that their profession had low status in their country of origin, compared to other professions, and that working as a nurse there is about passion. On the other hand, they described having left meaningful careers in their country of origin, which might be interpreted as hardiness. Seen in the light of Ungar’s (2012) theory, meaningfulness guides the decisions people make regarding which opportunities they value and have access to. For the nurses, the importance they attached to aspects of their future socially and in terms of work in a new country may have helped shape the opportunities they created.

Motivation for Migration

Five of the informants came to Norway in flight, while the others came either on a tourist visa, as an au pair, for family reunification, or as a migrant worker (see Table 10.1). Those who fled highlighted human rights, a good legal system, democracy, freedom of expression, and security as reasons for choosing Norway as a migration country. One of the teachers said that she and the rest of her family found information about Norway on the internet and pointed out the following:

I’ve heard from my daughter: The world’s happiest children live in Norway, and the world’s best education system is in Norway. (T5)

Among the other participants, who came to Norway on a more voluntary basis, many reported that they knew very little about the country before they arrived. They had relatively superficial knowledge about a cold climate, clean water, the midnight sun, the northern lights, and polar bears, though some had information about the structure and organization of the school or healthcare system, which they had received from friends and family. It requires courage to leave one’s social network and surroundings both for labour immigrants and for refugees, which, according to Ungar (2012), is a protective factor. For labour immigrant nurses, this has also been shown in earlier research as a strong expression of not giving up when meeting challenges, in learning a new language and finding a new network, and getting a job as a nurse (Nortvedt et al., 2020).

However, what several of our participants were uninformed about was not having the opportunity to work as a nurse in a hospital. One nurse said:

Before we came here, we applied for authorization as auxiliary nurses, so straight away, we worked as auxiliary nurses. I knew we must look after people. But I didn’t know that we weren’t supposed to work in a hospital… It was home based. We don’t have home care in the Philippines. I also didn’t know that most patients or users are old people. (N9)

This nurse chose her education because she wanted to work abroad, and the choice of Norway was for the reason that she knew a woman in the Philippines who ran a recruitment agency. This recruitment channel is not uncommon, and several other nurses also used agencies or agents to get assistance with the moving process and even to get a job in Norway. Nevertheless, it turned out that neither nurses, teachers, nor engineers got a job within their profession after arrival in Norway, and they had to be flexible and adapt to other work if they got a job at all. This form of adaptation also reflects resilience, which Ungar mentions as adaptation under adversity (2012). However, despite the lack of authorization as nurses, they were quite quickly approved as auxiliary nurses after arriving. This was not the case for teachers and engineers, even if some teachers worked as assistant teachers. According to Ungar’s (2008) definition of resilience, we can assume that the approval the nurses received as skilled workers can support resilience. The ability to locate resources, such as social networks or bridging programmes, can be strengthened, as auxiliary nurse approval gives them access to positions within the health sector where they can make contacts and meet employers who might help them through the authorization process. At the same time, it is a clear step backwards in terms of career, which can negatively affect motivation and thus resilience.

Authority Requirements

Participants representing the legally regulated professions, namely nurses and teachers, had to apply to the Directorate of Health, NOKUT and the Directorate of Education, respectively, to obtain Norwegian authorization. For some, especially those who had lived in Norway for approximately 10 years, experienced a long and unpredictable process towards authorization. Teachers who had lived in Norway for several years worked in everything from petrol stations to kindergartens during the process of applying for authorization. All the nurses worked as an auxiliary nurse at the time of the interviews but had previously worked as either cleaners or au pairs. This is in line with other research shows that immigrant teachers and nurses in particular often work as unskilled in their own or another trade after living in Scandinavia for a while (Dahl et al., 2021; Economou & Hajer, 2019; Hajer & Economou, 2017; Røed & Elena, 2022).

Informants who had arrived in 2017 or later were referred to bridging programmes by authorization authorities or by an aid agency or social network if one was informed of the possibility.

Some teachers were very satisfied with the information they received about the application process to NOKUT and the Directorate of Education at a course in Norwegian, at an asylum reception centre, and via NAV (the Norwegian labour and welfare organization). The facilitation of well-founded decisions can, according to Ungar (2012), be considered a structural protective factor such that the information the participants received helped strengthen their resilience and a successful trajectory.

Several teachers also said that they received a relatively quick response to the assessment of their education in the country of origin, but one teacher learned that it took over a year to receive a response. She called for a more efficient system:

… perhaps easier solutions, that one can enter studies and work as a teacher… You don’t have to work as a mathematics teacher right away, but you can start as an assistant teacher or supply teacher… Many children need to see role models. They need to see immigrant teachers teaching. If we lose this resource, we also lose resources on behalf of the children’s future. It not only steals from us, but it also steals from the public purse. (T1)

This teacher believed that many immigrants give up on getting their teaching training approved and instead start a completely new education, so that they waste both their own time as well as skills that could instead benefit society. However, the teacher in the quote above had not given up despite hardships and demonstrated resilience in her endurance (Ungar, 2012).

Many informants were also disappointed and felt it was unfair that they did not receive credit for all their previous education – only parts of it. One of the nurses had fought for 8 years for authorization and was upset because nurses with the same qualifications in the same country of origin received different decisions from the Directorate of Health:

I’d only hoped that the Directorate of Health would be fair when processing our application. That it, is the same decision for everyone. Also… that the other gets a better decision, that only he gets to go to practice and become a nurse immediately after that, while the other has received refusal, and refusal and refusal. (N6)

The hope of this nurse might be classified as a political hope (Terhart, 2022). The fighting spirit and the desire for fairness for all professionals with the same qualifications refers to a hope for authorization authorities to administer a fairer, more consistent system. This points to a more predictable regulatory framework, which optimally could function as a system that facilitates resilience.

Professional Identity: Both Strengthened and Weakened in a New Country

All the nurses worked as health professionals at various institutions in Norway at the time of their interview. As colleagues were informed that they had training as nurses in their country of origin, other nurses often asked them for advice. It was perceived as both appreciative but also indefensible, as their colleagues represent a knowledge background from a different country.

The informants said that they pointed out incorrect administration of drugs, and that they witnessed nursing colleagues forgetting procedures because they were conducted too rarely. One nurse stated that he was asked to carry out nursing procedures by insecure nurses. He further said:

… if there is a new nurse at work and they don’t know how to do it, they ask me. I said: ‘okay’… Sometimes I said, ‘I’ll explain to you how to do it, and then you have to do it because I’m not allowed’… [Then] they ask me: ‘Maybe you can show? Right? Then I will. (N5)

He pointed out that it could provide security for his colleagues that he was at work, as they could trust him to handle most of the nursing work that needed to be done, and he could ask if he was unsure of anything, as he had insight into the patients’ needs. In other words, these nurses demonstrated that they maintained their professional identity despite being employed at a lower level as health professionals. A nurse observed that the bridging programme might perhaps help strengthen their identity as a Norwegian nurse.

For the engineers, the situation was slightly different, as they had no official requirement to complete supplementary education. One demonstrated a strong professional identity by applying for a job as an engineer in his first month in Norway. However, he did not get the job, assumed that his own education was out of date, and therefore wanted to update his skills at a Norwegian university. For this highly competent engineer, this was crucial to retaining his professional status and identity and critical for his perceived success and further developing his skills (Remennick, 2013), which are important for strengthening resilience (Theron et al., 2022).

At the same time, representatives from the authorized professions expressed doubts as to whether being authorized necessarily meant that their professional identity was maintained. One of the nurses said:

Qualified, yes, but do you have your identity intact, after all these roller coasters of ours? That is one of my questions. (N4)

Another nurse supported this question by saying that he was afraid of forgetting acquired knowledge and therefore wanted to work in a hospital in the future, as opposed to doing what he called “simple nursing tasks” in a nursing home. After many years as an auxiliary nurse in Norway, one of the nurses also felt unsure whether she would master the role of a nurse, as she forgot that she was a trained nurse. The fear of failing could have put a stop to their applying for the bridging programme, but our participants did so anyway, which indicates strong professional identity and sufficient self-esteem in line with resilience (Ungar, 2012).

One of the teachers stated that she could do the teaching job better than her Norwegian colleagues because she had two bachelor’s degrees and 5 years of experience as a teacher in her country of origin. She was frustrated by the low assistant salary she received for teaching special education and missed the attention and sense of belonging in the classroom that teachers normally have. She went on to say:

Missing the language, missing that confidence, that yes, they [the teachers] are standing there teaching, even if they are not ‘perfect’, although I know we can do it in a different way, but those are the things that you see… one compares. That I have more education, but the assistant is completely like somewhere zero... It’s always the teacher who is a main character in the classroom. (T6)

Holding on to a strong identity from the home country, she struggled with not being recognized in the educational system in Norway, which is in line with Røed and Tkachenko (2022). Another teacher also highlighted a feeling that her education was worth nothing, and she feared that she would have to study everything again. Several nurses also described that they lacked self-confidence and the courage to speak up about things that are not professionally correct, and one nurse said that “being nothing” and not getting recognition for one’s professional identity in Norway eroded self-confidence and was experienced as being completely uneducated. Furthermore, the nurses said that they continuously made professional assessments even though, formally speaking, they could not carry out nursing procedures. At the same time, they were afraid of doing something that was not legally sustainable for fear of not being granted a Norwegian nursing authorization.

Information Flow About Bridging Programmes

The informants received information about the supplementary education offer in various ways. For several of the nurses, they applied to the Norwegian Directorate of Health for authorization, after which they received a recommendation to apply for the bridging programme for nurses. Some teachers received information from the Directorate of Education or via NOKUT. Certain of the informants, who had refugee status, heard about supplementary education at the asylum reception, in the introduction programme, or in NAV, and many found the necessary information on OsloMet websites or made telephone contact with career counsellors at the university. One of the teachers, who for a period received psychological assistance, collected information about educational opportunities from the psychologist. She said:

… when I didn’t get a job at school I became very depressed. Then I went to a psychologist, and it was the psychologist who helped me. He is the one who started the search, and I used his contact details and references to find out what to do. So, he is the one who sent me to both BI and OsloMet, so I booked an appointment at both places to get guidance. (T6)

The information that our participants received via public channels can be classified as structural support and contributed to the participants becoming empowered by being able to make informed decisions (Day, 2018).

Informants also stated that they heard about bridging programme offers via colleagues and friends who had already completed such education or from their diaspora network. A nurse also said that his employer encouraged him to apply for additional education:

So, I work 100%, but I get leave of absence when I have lectures. Actually, it’s from them [employer], they’re the ones who told me that it’s a programme from OsloMet and the county council, so I learned it from them… they’re the ones who actually arranged it… So, I have a lock-in period after I’ve completed the education. (N5)

He was one of few got support from his workplace. Some of the informants felt it was unfair when they discovered that refugees were prioritized for the supplementary study. When they read the information on the university’s website, they were unsure whether they could apply as migrant workers or would even be offered a place.

Vandeyar and Vandeyar (2017) associates information flow as a well-oiled machine or as a well-managed institution, whereas unclear information can be perceived as unfair prioritizing, as in the case above. As Ungar (2015) states, when well informed, one is better prepared. Covell et al. (2016) point out that is crucial for professional integration and licensing processes that internationally educated health professionals receive sufficient information about the programmes and resources available. Blythe et al. (2008) asserted that relevant information about the authorization process and about bridging programmes would increase the likelihood of migrants re-entering the workforce as professionals in Norway.

Prerequisites for Completing Bridging Programmes

The informants expressed pleasure in having entered the various bridging programmes but had different prerequisites for completing their studies.

Motivations

For the three professional groups, their main aspirations were to obtain a position in their field. In terms of success and resilience, and as highlighted by the Institute of Public Health, work is important for health, as it can provide access to social relationships, identity, personal growth, financial security, and other health-promoting recourses (Folkehelseinstituttet, 2022).

The engineering students in our study saw the complementary education quite specifically as an “entrance ticket” to work networks, and they looked forward to internships in companies in the second semester. At the same time, they expressed that they would leave the bridging programme if they received a job offer. For the other two professional groups, the motivation for practical studies was also great, even if some of the teachers doubted their own language competence when it came to disseminating the subject matter well enough in teaching situations. At the same time, they conveyed an attitude that “teaching brings joy” and a desire to work hard to complete their studies, as well as to get the job they wanted. One of the teachers said:

So, I’ll just see how long my body can take it. Right? I can take, you know, when you have hope, you can work a lot extra, because you are very motivated. That, yes, I can do that… I must do it, right? You have an invisible pressure on yourself. But how long my body can take it, I don’t know. (T6)

Some teachers were worried about whether they would get a job after the bridging programme, as they had heard of students who had completed their studies without getting a job. Other teachers had already received job offers and were thereby motivated to complete the programme. A student teacher experienced being relieved, confident, and goal-oriented by getting a place in the bridging programme, and she found it inspiring to meet and talk to fellow students. Although the participants described it as both strange and very different to be a student again as an adult at a Norwegian university, they also experienced it as exciting and useful to learn different theories in Norwegian. The teachers looked forward to having an important role in society and to becoming a central role model for children and young people. When asked about satisfaction with the education, one of the teachers answered: “Yes, very much. I feel like I’ve won a big battle” (T5).

Even if the participants were motivated, some were quite unsure about what the bridging programme could lead to. For the nurses, it was certain that they would get a job as a nurse as soon as they were authorized. For the two other professional groups, however, it was more dubious, which affected their motivation to complete the study, especially for the engineers.

Several informants in all three professional groups mentioned that, in the long term, they wanted a master’s degree, and a few nurses wanted to further their education in cancer nursing, cardiology, intensive care, anaesthesia, or midwifery. Furthermore, the nurses were satisfied that the supplementary education gave them a refresher on their own knowledge and renewed their competence. One nurse mentioned that a strong motivating factor was that she would receive authorization as a nurse in Norway after completing the programme. Another nurse said the following about coping with her own role in practice:

I just want to practice the nursing profession here in Norway and do the tasks I think I’m good at. (N7)

The hope and joy of mastering tasks as a nurse in Norway was great and something everyone looked forward to after completing the bridging programme.

In summary, we see that the delight of having been given a place and successful coping with both the student role and the professional role are in line with protective factors that strengthen resilience (Ungar, 2015). At the same time, several of our participants struggled with keeping up the hope of employment after the bridging programme, as the teachers in Terhart’s (2022) study also expressed, where the hope implied a pressure. However, another study with Filipino nurses underscored a hopeful attitude towards getting a nursing job in Norway; the nurses showed resilience in not giving up but striving for a future as a certified nurse in Norway (Nortvedt et al., 2020).

Personal Requirements

In addition to being motivated, the informants had various other personal and structural prerequisites for entering the bridging programme, whether in terms of finances, family obligations, language, geography, or workplace arrangements.

In all three student groups, most worked (some even took extra shifts) alongside their studies, and more than half of the participants had children. Some students found it exhausting to share energy and attention between work and studies. One teacher described how she tried to find a demanding balance between time and energy for family, work, and her studies:

I don’t earn so much that we can have a 50/50 split. But 50/50 distribution is that he [the spouse] is responsible for finances. He is responsible for the things he can do outside. And I’m responsible for the things that I can do at home. So, when he gets home, he doesn’t have to think about food… picking up my girl or making deliveries or going to leisure activities. But here comes a limit as well. Because I get up early, I get my daughter ready, send her to school, then get to work myself, come home, work on homework… It becomes a lot. (T6)

She went on to say that she used late evening and night hours for her studies after her daughter had gone to sleep. She attended lectures 2 days a week and worked the other 3 weekdays. Others found that it became too demanding to work alongside full-time studies. Several had, however, applied for a student loan and been turned down because they had not held a full-time job, so they still had to work a bit alongside their studies. A student teacher said that she and her spouse also had to finance their adult daughter’s education abroad; consequently; it was necessary that they both have an income even if she was studying.

Most of the students had a relatively short commute to the university, but one student was a weekly commuter, and two students said that they travelled for up to two and a half hours to and from school. However, one student used the time on transport for something positive, while at the same time she was worried that it would become more challenging in terms of time with more school days in the coming semesters:

It’s going really well now because I get some alone time on the train… I can listen to something, or I can read something. It’s very good now, but if it becomes four days a week, I don’t know what I’m going to do. My husband helps a lot with the children. He delivers and picks them up, or he makes food parcels. (T4)

While students who had children described family as a time-consuming commitment, family was also portrayed as a source of energy:

Actually, it’s my family that’s the driving force behind me. That, I’m doing this not only for myself, but for my family as well. (N1)

This nurse went on to say that her mother had recently moved to Norway, so she had a lot of help with the children. Others thought it was essential to have support from family. One nurse said:

The support I get from my family is also a big help. That there is someone who believes in me, in a way, that I can complete my education. (N8)

Despite the hardships, several participants mentioned being a student and at the same time working and/or having children to take care of, and family was highlighted as a contextual protective factor (Ungar, 2015). As many of the participants had paid work, one might expect that they would mention supportive colleagues, which they did not. However, encouraging colleagues are mentioned by teachers in Chassels’ (2010) study and by nurses in studies by Smith et al. (2022), Dahl et al. (2022), and Covell et al. (2017).

Conclusion

In this study, we explored the experiences of migrant nurses, teachers, and engineers as they seek to achieve successful professional integration in a new cultural context. We have used the theoretical framework of ecological resilience to shed light on the interplay between individual, social, and institutional resources for occupational reintegration. At the individual level, resilience is conceptualized as the capacity to withstand difficulties (Ungar, 2011). In this regard, resilience is a personal trait with the capacity to navigate resources and negotiate for their meaning (Ungar, 2011). As we have documented, highly skilled migrants exhibit resilience in the face of professional degradation after migration. Yet, their capacity increases if they can expect the situation to be temporary, if there are clear avenues to skills upgrading (e.g., language courses and bridging programmes), and if they can locate social and economic support for their requalification.

A strong professional identity and the belief that they have skills and competencies to offer Norwegian society were key sources of resilience. Yet, the licensing authorities’ devaluation of their former education challenged their identity and self-confidence as professionals. To reduce this threat, they needed to renegotiate what it means to be a professional in a different cultural context. Recognition from colleagues and employers and comparisons with Norwegian colleagues strengthened their confidence that they would master the job as well as their trust in their pedagogical, clinical, or technical skills. With this part of their identity intact, it became easier to accept the need to acquire ‘Norwegian’ ways of being a professional to achieve full professional integration.

The three professional labour markets exhibit important differences in “resilience structures”. The migrant nurses got both LPN (Licenced Practical Nurse) authorization and recognition from colleagues, which validated their professional identity in the absence of formal recognition. Yet, the lack of a clear qualification route led to futile attempts for authorization. The establishment of the bridging programme provided these migrant nurses with a structured pathway for requalification, authorization and, finally, employment. The teachers and engineers also found the bridging programmes to be providing resources necessary for employment in Norway, such as practical training and language training. The bridging programmes support resilience, as completion carries hope for professional reintegration. Yet, compared to the nurses, the teachers and engineers were further from their professional labour market upon entry into the programme and were also made aware that the programme gave no guarantee of a job after completion. This uncertainty implies that they continuously negotiated the worth of the bridging programme against employment opportunities, health, and effort.